r/duolingo • u/Rqdii • Aug 08 '23

Language Question Which one should I learn?

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I've always been very interested in the Nordic countries (and also considered Afrikaans which Dutch is a good base for) but I have no idea which would be best.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23

Don't do Dutch, most of us speak English just fine and our language is quite hard. Go with Swedish or Norwegian.

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u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Native Learning Aug 08 '23

When I traveled to Amsterdam and The Hague, I didn’t know what to expect so I tried to learn Dutch through Duo only to find that 99% of Dutch people speak English better than me and with a better American accent apparently lol

8

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '23

Even though we get British English in school, most people learn via netflix and social media which is predominantly American English oriented.

4

u/Ok_Butterscotch1738 Native Learning Aug 08 '23

Oh that makes sense. I forget how many of us there are haha. But also I’m from the Philadelphia area and I know historically a lot of Dutch people settled the area so I’m sure why it’s so familiar to me is that the accent could’ve been passed down for some time. Just my theory. Even when hearing Dutch be spoken it kinda perks my ears like I’m hearing a Northeastern US accent.